Archive for the ‘Porsch 917’ tag

The Porsche 917/30 was Mark Donohue’s crowning achievement as an engineer and driver during his career at Penske Racing and has helped raise the profile of 917s in general since one with no race history sold for a record $4.4 million at Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island sale back in March.

Last week, Mecum Auctions announced that it will offer at its Monterey event in August the predecessor to Penske’s 917/30, the L&M 917/10. George Follmer, Mark Donohue’s teammate, drove the car to the 1972 Can-Am championship. The 917/30 would never have ruled the Can-Am series if not for the knowledge Donohue amassed building and driving the fearsome 917/10. Powered by a turbocharged 850hp 5-liter air-cooled flat 12, the 917/10 demanded respect from its driver, as Donohue would learn.

Donohue, working with Porsche, spent months training the unruly 917/10 Spyder to gallop like a thoroughbred. Ultimately, though, it would be Follmer, his Penske Racing teammate, who rode the 917/10 (chassis number 917/10-003) to the Can-Am championship, handily stealing the title from the dominant 427 Chevrolet powered McLarens. Donohue, meanwhile, had to settle for fourth in the overall points after a 150-MPH crash in a 917/10 at Road Atlanta that sidelined him with a broken leg for all but the last four races of the nine-race series. In his first outing after the accident, at Donnybrooke International Raceway in September 1972, Donohue crashed his 917-10 again when a tire blew, but that time he walked away uninjured.

The 917/10 also brought out a bitter rivalry between Donohue and Follmer, as Donohue resented Follmer’s success driving the car he’d developed. Follmer, on his way to a championship season, resented Donohue’s attempts to steal his thunder and drove hard against Donohue – which is actually what forced Donohue to a fourth rather than second place overall.

After the 1972 season, Penske sold 917/10-003 and another 917/10 to Rinzler Motor Racing, which had it painted in Royal Crown livery and pitted it (with Follmer as driver) against Penske’s new 917/30 in the 1973 Can-Am season. According to 962.com, it later passed into the hands of Porsche racers Vasek Polak and John McCaw. In announcing the consignment of the 917/10, Mecum stated that they expect it to top the $4.4 million world record price.

The 1972 season wasn’t exactly a bust for Donohue, however. It was 40 years ago this month that he gave British Formula 1 car builder McLaren its first Indianapolis 500 win. That victory wasn’t without drama, as Donohue had a choice of two turbochargers for the Offenhauser four-cylinder in his McLaren M16B race car. After careful deliberation, Donohue went with the smaller unit, due to the fact that he’d suffered a string of engine failures in previous outings with the car. On race day, Donohue’s McLaren was down on power and he struggled to keep up with race leaders Bobby Unser, Peter Revson, Jerry Grant and his teammate with a virtually identical car, Gary Bettenhausen. “It looks like we made a big mistake,” Donohue told Roger Penske over the radio during the early portion of the race. As the 500 wore on, the more aggressively boosted cars began to drop out, however, and Donohue cruised to the front – winning the race, plus setting an average speed record of 162.2 MPH that would stand for a decade. Donohue also laid down the fastest race lap, with a blistering 187.539-MPH pass.

For more about Donohue’s amazing though tragically short career in racing, including his work on the 917/10 and 917/30, get a copy of The Unfair Advantage.

Mecum’s Monterey sale will take place August 16-18 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa on Del Monte Golf Course. For more information, visit Mecum.com.

And while we’re on the topic of Porsche 917s, The Smoking Tire recently wrote up an appreciation of the 917/30 after a viewing of the photos of Steffen Jahn.